Oatmeal Cake with Streusel Topping

Okay not really, but it did snow this morning and that’s always an event here in Austin. I wish Fuzz had been home for the selfish reason that I missed seeing her reaction, but the snow didn’t start falling until after the last school bell rang.

Along with being pretty, the snow saved me some money. Normally, I’d run to the store for ingredients, but with the weather I chose to bee resourceful and use what was on hand. This cake was the result. I’d seen the recipe in books, but never actually tried making it. The topping is rich and flavorful with brown sugar, butter and coconut and the cake is extremely moist but not mushy. I tried it hot, but liked it better fully set and cool.I hope the rest of the family likes it.

This recipe is adapted from Maryana Vollstedt’s “Potluck Cooking” and it would definitely be perfect for a small gathering.

Bring water to a boil in a lidded saucepan. Remove from heat, stir in the oats, cover and let sit for 20 minutes. Remove cover and let sit for another 10.

Meanwhile, stir flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl and using an electric mixer, cream the butter and both sugars for about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for a minute after each egg. Beat in the vanilla and oatmeal. By hand, stir in the flour mixture.

While the cake bakes, stir together all topping ingredients. When cake is done, spread topping over cake. Preheat the broiler and broil the cake until topping is golden and bubbly – be careful not to burn it! Cool in pan on a rack and cut into squares.

Comments

I made this cake for my husband to bring to a work party, and everyone loved it. I will have to make it again so I can try it. I made it in a 9″ spring form pan and it took 30 mins. It made for a pretty presentation and easy transport in my cake caddy.

Anna, As always, delicious recipe. I just made this cake and took a tiny corner piece while it was still hot – it is the perfect comfort sweet! I didn’t see an oven temp…assume 350? It seemed to work fine for me, though I haven’t made my way to the middle yet. I accidentally threw the nuts (I used pecans) into the cake layer instead of the topping. They taste great in the cake, though I miss their crunch in the streusel. Guess I’ll have to make it again…and again…

I always cover my bowl with a dinner plate, top side up. Since the butter is melted, it isn’t creamed. But from looking at your pictures, the texture of the cake from my reciipe variation is exactly the same. More than one way to skin a cake!

LinC, that’s the traditional way. I preferred dirtying a lidded pan to wasting a piece of plastic wrap to cover the bowl. Also, I figured a lid on a saucepan would fit tighter and lock in more steam. Then again, none of the recipes I’ve seen say how tightly the bowl needs to be covered and I wonder if covering is really even necessary. Another thing is, if you do it all in one bowl you can’t really cream the butter, sugar and eggs properly. Maybe for this cake it doesn’t matter? But I liked the results I got with well creamed butter and eggs.

In my family’s old version of this cake, you put the oatmeal and the stick of butter into a heat-proof bowl and pour the boiling water over it. Cover and let sit for 20 minutes. Then finish mixing the cake in the same bowl. Simplifies cleanup!

Our news station has been talking about you guys with the snow and how shocking it was! All I can say is that I am totally sick of this weather (I’m an Okie up here. Two huge snowstorms in a month? Make it STOP.)

I look at this and I instantly think of banana nut bread, it looks SO good (even though its not banana nut bread, but I love oatmeal cake all the same) I’ll have to give this a go in the future.

Sue, this cake with orange juice would be terrifc. I’d like to see that recipe.

Katrina, good luck getting your house ready to show.

Pam, I’m glad I jogged your memory :).

Carla, I hardly ever use my broiler because I tend to burn things with it. I took this one out right on time. My pecans were starting to singe at exactly 2 minutes.

Martha and Jennifer, yes! I forgot the name for it but the name of this cake is Lazy Daisy or “Lazy Dazy” to be made on lazy days.

Janis, thanks to you I want to try making a chocolate version of this cake. A mild cake like a German chocolate cake halved and baked in an 8 inch glass pan or even a regular chocolate cake recipe that has some brown sugar and coconut in the batter (two flavors that might pull it all together) would work. This glaze is richer and more like coconut pecan pie than German chocolate cake glaze, though. Since it lacks the evaporated milk and eggs, it has a different flavor. But I do think chocolate would be a good base.

What is this world coming to when it snows in Texas? haha Snow is always a good excuse to stay home and bake. I live up north in PA, and we got hit with probably 24+ inches of snow. I’ve never broiled a cake before. I bet it makes a tasty topping!

Bundle up and stay inside, that looks atrocious out there! I’m so sick of snow, I can’t wait to move to Utah. Oh, wait, that won’t help…..sigh.
Cake looks yummy. I SO want to bake. We’re gettin’ there, almost there. House goes on the market tomorrow! Aaahhh.

This looks scrumptious and would be perfect with a cup of tea on a snowy day in Austin! It reminds me of a recipe from a Junior League cookbook called Celebrated Seasons. That recipe has slightly different proportions of sugar and butter but also has orange juice concentrate in the cake as well as in the topping. The topping for that recipe also has coconut in it. It’s a crowd pleaser and everyone asks for the recipe.

I can’t believe you have snow! It’s sunny here, but of course cold and we have piles and piles of snow.